Top 10 Tuesdays: Dumbest Excuses for Wearing Fur

After years of approaching fur-wearers to ask them to think about the animals they’re wearing, I’ve heard just about every excuse in the book. Here’s a batch of the most pathetic excuses:

1. “They’ve got to die sometime.”
Well, so do you, sweetie, but that doesn’t give somebody else the right to kill you or to stick you in a cage for the rest of your life.

2. “I didn’t kill the animal.”
Come on, now. If you’re wearing fur, the animal was killed for you, and you paid to have it happen.

3.“Your shoes are leather, aren’t they?”
Actually, no, they’re synthetic, but that’s not the point. The point is that there’s simply no excuse for wearing fur, a luxury item that almost everyone who isn’t living under a rock knows comes from terrible animal suffering.

4. “But the animals are ranch-raised!”
Ah, yes, the fur industry swears the animals are raised humanely in spacious, ergonomically designed habitats, with three hours of aerobic exercise daily and gourmet food. But have you ever actually seen one of these “humane” fur farms or “gentle” traps that the fur industry talks about?

5. “Get a life.”
A perennial among fur-wearers, this is supposed to imply that you should feel ashamed for speaking out against cruelty. Wait, is speaking out against something wrong only rude when you’re the target of the criticism?

6. “My coat was made from small-brained, vicious, mean animals.”
If being small-brained and vicious was reason enough to be made into a coat, my ex-boyfriend has real problems. Besides, it’s just not true. Many of the types of animals used for fur, like chinchillas, rabbits, and even cats and dogs, are often kept as companion animals.

It can take up to 40 chinchillas - sensitive and super cute animals - to make just one coat!

7. “It’s OK to wear fur because the animals are bred for that purpose.”
To which I can only respond, “Huh?”

8. “You’re just jealous. You wouldn’t oppose fur if you had one of your own.”
Believe it or not, I once approached a fur-wearer who told me I was obviously just jealous that I didn’t have a fur of my own to snuggle up with. (Actually, I do have one. Her name is Mei Mei, and she has four legs and a tail and purrs when I scratch her ears—can your fur coat do that?)

9. “I’m not going to be influenced by all that politically correct stuff.”
This is the “I’ll do it because I’m a rebel and it’s so deliciously incorrect” excuse. Here’s a rebellious idea: Try sticking up for animals.

10.“This is a free country.”
Yes, it is, and you’re free to make a jerk out of yourself.

Just don’t give me these lame excuses anymore. I’d much rather you come out and say it: You don’t care about animals, and you don’t care about their pain and suffering. For those of us who do care, we make sure we pledge to abstain from fur!

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